Picasso Monet Basquiat and Kusama Brighten Up New York Spring Auctions / /
Results from the major Modern and Contemporary art sales at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Bonhams’ NY has conveyed a message of optimism to the COVID hit art market. First off, the Collection of the late Dr Teruo Hirose comprised three paintings and eight works on paper, gifted by Yayoi Kusama herself to Dr Hirose, her lifelong friend and doctor whom she consulted in her early years in New York in the 1960s when she was a struggling young artist in need of medical aid. Although the works were expected to go higher they still brought in a total of $15,225,938 at Bonhams’. Christie’s has had a comeback to the pre-COVID days with the sale of Pablo Picasso’s
More than US$1.3 billion worth of art sold this week in NYC
James Tarmy, Bloomberg News VIDEO SIGN OUT
Change is in the air.
The auction market, long dominated by work made by White men, is demonstrating some semblance of market diversityânot only in whatâs offered, but also by how much people are willing to pay.
âIn a way, the headline this week is about diversity in so many ways,â says Bonnie Brennan, president for the Americas at Christieâs. âNot only in the artists themselves, but the [artworksâ] medium, style, and price points.â Yes, she continues, there were solid results for established names, âbut the more electric moments this week have been around newer and more emerging artists.â
Feature · arts Tonight we took the pulse of the market and it is clearly racing
Despite ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, it was almost business as usual at New York s spring auctions this week, with two paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat fetching $144M among other exhilarating sales.
By Megan C. Hills, CNNUpdated 13th May 2021
Two paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat fetched a combined $144 million this week, heralding a return to normalcy for some of the world s wealthiest art collectors.
The 1983 painting In This Case sold at Christie s for $93.1 million on Wednesday, becoming the second-most expensive Basquiat work ever to appear at auction, before the painter s confrontational Versus Medici fetched $50.82 million at rival house Sotheby s.
The evening of sales in New York totalled $439.6m, with Basquiat's Versus Medici topping the contemporary art offering at $50.8m and a new record for Leonor Fini